Hi,
I am salt drying a fox and a coyote that i cased skined and i was wondering if i should put anything inside the legs to help hold there shape while drying.The only cut i make is about 3inches long starting at the pads to help skinning the feet out.The last few that i have done i just let them dry.But after tanning and during mounting it was alittle hard to get the legs of the form inserted.
Any Help Would Be Appreciated
Thank You Very Much
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Alan, Nothing that you might put into the legs, that I know of ,is worth doing. Wet tanning works well with lifesize hides as the legs don't "dry down" and stretch with less effort. Also if you have a tool called an ear opener (made to help open ears of deer sized beasts) you can insert it into a leg and stretch it some quite easily. Remember that a manikin is not necessarily "correct" and legs sometimes are a bit heavy. Sometime save a carcass and compare all it's parts with the form and you might be surprised- also enlightened as to why some areas are a problem. I salt and dry all lifesize but wet tan and it goes better for me.--Enjoy!-Aaron Honeycutt
And you can't possibly hate sewing any more than I do, but the cut should be from the pad to the "knee joint". The live (or, more correctly, the dead)foot will compress slightle and come free, but the pad is usually cleaned off and cut away before skinning is complete. After tanning, however, the anatomically correct mannikin has no such flexibility. The foot and pad are larger than the lower leg tube you go away with during skinnning and now won't fit. This is expecially true on bears. Bear legs skin often doesn't close completely when first mounted. Many people grind the form down. DON'T! Just sew with large stitches and cover with a wet towel. Wrap with plastic wrap and wait a day or two. Go back and the incision will close and your bear won't look like it had toothpicks for legs.